Why do the Chinese have such long showers

Cold water may solve the 30 minute shower problem as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJY2tkoQlQA

当然咯我要大象的淋浴头，来一个

淋浴头，淋浴头！要 大象的淋浴头吗？

哈哈大笑，谢谢Roderick,

顺便那个YMCA短片让我想起来听说老外在淋浴的时候，有中国人有的时候哦会注目

其他的Poddies听说这个？

而且，要不这个短片：

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlrtQb24Qxw

Hi Lujiaojie

Thank you for your contribution. My wife did research on economic bath houses, stories from the last two or three decades, and her answer to the question I posted was the same as yours. She says that she found with people she interviewed they showered once a week mainly for economic reasons. For women with children and babies there was another factor; many were so busy with other chores they did not often get the opportunity to make the trip to the bath house. When they made it they had a good long shower. (They were not allowed to have baths.) :-)

Hi xiao_liang

What lujiaojie said above is very right. The daughter of a Chinese friend of mine told me before that she, a college student, take a shower only once a week, BUT wash hair every day! As for me, I took a bath every day when I was in Japan, but I must confess that I've already become rather lazy here in northeast China. When in China, do as the Chinese do, hehe.

I think this is one of those lovely cultural differences :) Also, a physical difference. I don't think I'm out of order in saying chinese people (in general) tend to sweat less. I know that no matter the coldness or dryness of air, if I don't shower for a couple of days, I tend to smell awful! The curse of 老外 :)

The air is drier, and the winter is so cold, so people not need to shower too much.

What is it that's special about the north that makes people not need to shower more than once a week?!

这是真的。北方不需要每天洗澡，冬天每星期洗一次，夏天两三天洗一次。

还有个原因就是，有些地方洗澡不方便，并不是每个人的家里都能洗澡。

呵呵，jiaojie，我觉得你开玩笑了，大概就逗弄我们老外。

I think these are habits quite common across the developed world. Water conservation is a hard lesson to learn in countries with plentiful water.

It was just your showering arrangements that I was going into ;-), sorry if that became a little personal. I was just amused that you said that you shower 'every week'.

Regarding the Chinese people in question, I think context is important - Chinese people studying in Britain are not 'typical' Chinese for a range of reasons They are doing their best to fit into a new country, and this could impact on their showering habits. Having said that, I think that if you had consciously observed (timed) their showers you may have found that they shower for longer periods than the Poms. I have had Chinese people living with us in Australia for extended periods and they all have long showers compared to the average Aussie.

If your sample are quick in the shower, that is still an interesting result, but you cannot extrapolate your experience to the whole of China.

No offense, but I'm not going into my living arrangements with you.

It was a dorm in a UK university, filled with chinese students as well as english. Split by gender, by unit. 6 rooms per unit. The students in my girlfriend's dorm were all Chinese nationals, studying in England usually for the first time.

Perhaps you'd like to ask me their names?

'Every week for the last three or so years' :-)

Now, about your story - sorry I can't stop smiling about your 'every week' - do you mind me asking where there are mixed dorms? I have stayed in mixed dorms in hotels and hostels but I was not aware this happened in universities. You mean in China, right?

Every week for the last three or so years, bodawei. I also lived on and off in my girlfriend's dorms for a year, which was populated entire by chinese people born and bred on the mainland.

In the story above it is presumably time under the shower (but I haven't actually showered with those students.) :-)

Where I lived previously they pay for water by the minute; in this situation I believe the time under the shower head would be shorter, but it is still a very long time. Where they pay by the minute you buy a little stored value card and swipe the shower; it goes in about three minute blocks of time. You keep swiping if you want a longer shower. The guys would be there soaping up or washing their hair in the gaps when the water ran out; all up they would be there for about half an hour.

@xiao_liang

How often have you showered with Chinese people born and bred on the mainland?

I suppose bodawei,you clarified that that was actually time with the water running and wasn't including time in the shower room pre and post shower grooming,getting dressed,makeup etc?

It does seem likely though that as you were talking about the drought and cutting back on water usage that they were talking about time under the shower head.

How often are we supposed to shower? I shower every day, and so does everyone I know. Is that too infrequently?

Yours, a Pom.

The bath house behaviour I refer to are 'economic' bath houses, patronised mainly by people who cannot afford a hot water system inside their own 厕所. That and curious foreigners? And students (who are only temporarily poor)? I am not talking about the spas. So it is metaphorically a daily ritual, but these people may only have a couple of showers a week because of the cost.

hehe,reminds me of "out damn'd spot" from Macbeth.

oh right....you may be right then,but is this everyday ritual ,or is that more of a luxury/pampering session [or in the bleeding case perhaps not so luxurious...but related to important health beliefs as I think you rightly suggest].

That's why I said 'cultural' reasons.. it is hard to understand. I went to the public bathhouse once and watched discretely (lucky I didn't get arrested?).. my showering companions seemed to rub off at least two or three layers of skin. They liked an abrasive kind of wash cloth as well. I'm wondering if it is related to a traditional Chinese medicine view of the world, because they also like a good abrasion in a massage. (I have been left literally bleeding.)

I like reason number 3 best mate.Obviously there's a lot in reason 1 as well.I'm not too convinced by 2 or 4 though....doesn't matter how dirty you are,you're not going to need an hour to get clean.

啊呀！ 每天我看到'youtube'的词句我感到失望了！ 没办法。

最近我认为他们斗不过我，在i-tunes下载’best of youtube'了。 但是这个计划都黄了。 还没有youtube的广播。

或者，做饭，用垃圾处置：

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJPQLfpio8s

They make you give the hospital jarmies back and the underpants go in the bin.

Oh,thanks for this info mate.Luckily I decided to scroll back to the beginning of this thread or I would have missed it.Do you get to keep the jammies then and wear 'em about town afterwards?

We have a couple of spa towns within an hours drive of our city. Typically a Chinese family make it an outing two or three times a year, but obviously it would depend on disposable income. I went to one where it cost 100 RMB each person (that was a discount on list price) for a choice of 20 or 30 different pools, an endless supply of water to drink, and a short massage. A huge choice of shampoos, conditioners, and skin lotions. But no food - that is extra. You can spend all day there if you like.

It is amusing that you are not allowed to wear your own clothes in the relax area (where you can get a massage) - they give you a pair of jarmies and a pair of paper underpants. (Not much more modest than a hospital gown.)

Some of the hotels in town pipe the natural hot spring water right into your room.

"What can you do in a shower for half an hour?"

..nothing,absolutely nothin' mate [meditate,become one with the shower,veg out,whatever]...what luxury.This reminds me of the Bisy Backson character from the Tao of Pooh.We all get so busy that we don't stop and relax sometimes.I love a long shower but we recently had a drought here for a few years and were all trained to have very short ones.Those hot spring baths in places like Taiwan and Japan are so appealing.I suppose they have them in mainland China too do they?...what's the scene there?